into the deep
by wild wolf free17
Summary: Various drabbles and ficlets. AU, gen, slash
1. the taste of the sky

**Title**: the taste of the sky

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; just for fun.

**Warnings**: spoilers for season two

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 545

**Point** **of** **view**: third

* * *

_John_

The first time John ever went on a plane he knew he'd come home. He didn't feel like that again until he set foot on Atlantis. He wanted to find a corner and curl up, soak in the city's presence, wrap her around him like a handmade quilt.

Even flying the puddlejumper to a possible battle felt comforting-part of Atlantis traveling the stars with him.

Atlantis was like his mother, pulling him into a full-body embrace, picking him up in her arms.

Atlantis welcomed him. Lit up for him and filled him with warmth. Like no place ever had except the sky.

_Rodney _

Rodney never belonged-too young for his true peers and too smart for his age-mates, he had nowhere and no one.

He had felt a connection with the piano, but it apparently wasn't for him, so he turned to science. It never fit like music, but nobody could deny he had a gift for it.

He sailed through school, often smarter than his teachers, and he learned to push people away since no one would accept him. He had no friends, no one who understood him-no one who wanted to understand him. He taught himself to be fine with it; he didn't need anyone, after all.

Sometimes, though, he still missed the piano.

_Teyla_

Teyla does not have any point of reference for the Atlantians. They are a resourceful, clever people-and arrogant. They have technology she has never seen, and some of them treat her like a child, incapable of understanding. But Dr. Zelenka is patient and shows her how to work the machine-box called _computer_, and Major Sheppard teaches her to shoot a _gun_.

Teyla has always been a quick study and she knows the Atlantians have come to lead the way to the future. They are not the Ancestors-instead, they are the Ancestors' heirs, Major Sheppard especially. Teyla is a leader, yet she would follow still follow Major Sheppard into the belly of a Wraith hiveship. Major Sheppard reminds Teyla of her father, the kind of man who never asked for power but commanded it with ease.

Teyla is not Atlantian. But no longer is she fully Athosian, either. Atlantis is not home, but anywhere Major Sheppard is, she will stay.

_Ronon_

Ronon was civilized once. He's tried to forget those days.

Atlantis is no Sateda, not home in the least. The people, most of them, are soft. They wouldn't survive a one-on-one encounter with a Wraith. Some, though, are soldiers-not quite up to Satedan standards, but close.

He misses his mother, his brothers, and Melena. He hates the Wraith and Kell, and himself for surviving that final attack.

But after that, he chose to live. He kept running and fighting, killing any Wraith he could.

And now he stands still, on Atlantis, City of the Ancestors. They have taken him in, offered him a place to sleep in safety. They are not home. Atlantis is not Sateda. But he can see how, one day, the Atlantians-Sheppard, above all-might become his family. They won't replace what Kell and the Wraith stole, nothing could ever do that. But they might ease the loss, might help him to live again.

He'll give Atlantis a try.


	2. thou art the best of me

**Title**: thou art the best of me

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; title from Donne.

**Warnings**: spoilers for "The Shrine"

**Pairings**: one-sided John/Rodney

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 585

**Point** **of** **view**: third

* * *

Out of everyone he could have screamed for—Carson, his best friend; Keller, the doctor he thought he loved; his mother, or Jeannie—he begged for John. Stripped bare of all his defenses, he only wanted John, only calmed in John's presence, with John's touch.

Rodney doesn't really remember, but John cannot forget. Rodney had been terrified, broken down into someone only barely recognizable, and John wanted to keep him safe, secret him away from the world.

And now Rodney is back, the prickly genius, the only person John's ever—To his almost shame, John realizes that he cares more for Rodney than he did his dad or Dave, or even Nancy. And he doesn't know what to do.

He remembers—can't forget—Rodney screaming his name in terror and despair, like he was a god with the power to make everything better. That much _faith_—never in his life has he experienced something like it.

And now, Rodney is healed. Back to his old self, with the scantiest memories of those horrible weeks. He can't recall how frustrated he got, the slow inexorable slip away of his mind, until finally… finally, only _John_ remained.

To know that after he lost everything else, Rodney still knew John…

John had refused to say goodbye. Even knowing nothing could be done, he wouldn't let go. Rodney doesn't remember that, either.

He's back to his old self, hilarious and impatient, demanding the impossible of everyone, but above all himself.

John still wants to protect him, to keep him safe. By silent agreement, he and Ronon and Teyla shadow him. Watch over him. Make sure, as best they can, that he'll be okay for a little while. Not much else they can do.

"Oh, John," Teyla says softly, pulling him down for the forehead touch. "You should tell him."

Rodney's scream echoes in John's mind. The way he cried. Begged for John. Only ever calmed in John's presence, with John's touch.

(Rodney hasn't watched the tapes. Not long after he returned, there was a glitch in the system and they were all destroyed. Keller raged, but no one suspected John.)

"I can't," John replies.

Teyla's smile is gentle. "Do you not think he deserves to know?"

John looks away.

Teyla and Ronon and Rodney—closer than Dad and Dave and Nancy ever were. (Maybe even than Mom was, but John can't be sure.)

_Rodney_. Stripped of everything, he still remembered John. That must mean something.

Ronon merely runs beside John, keeping silent. At the end, as they separate to go shower, he says, "Good to have McKay back."

John nods.

As he turns away, Ronon grabs his shoulder. "Sheppard," he says. "John. If you care about someone, you shouldn't waste time."

John stares at him. Ronon's hand drops. He shrugs and adds, "You never know when time'll run out."

(Rodney yells, "John! Get John! I want John!" in his memory.)

John flinches and Ronon turns, goes back down the hall the way they'd come.

Watching him go, John hears Rodney whimper his name, terrified.

But Rodney is healed. Back to normal. Courting Keller in his awkward, clueless way.

("I love you," he said on the destroyed tape. "I love you." He thought he was dying, that his mind would soon be completely gone, and he told Keller, "I love you.")

John doesn't say anything. Not to Rodney, not to Teyla or Ronon. There's no reason to change the status quo, to risk losing Rodney.

(In his mind, Rodney screams, "John!")


	3. Death's in the goodbye

**Title**: Death's in the goodbye

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; just for fun. Title from Anne Sexton.

**Warnings**: takes place during "Siege II"

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 200

**Point** **of** **view**: third

* * *

John has never been much for long goodbyes, and there isn't a single person on Atlantis he'd trust to do this job and get it right—except Rodney, but if the city survives, she'll need Rodney to put her back together. Besides, John can't let Rodney—

John isn't needed, not like Rodney, the smartest man in two galaxies, the best friend John has ever had, closer than Dave, or even Mitch and Dex. He can't ask Rodney to sacrifice himself—besides, they need a pilot.

Without arrogance, John can say he's the best pilot in the galaxy. He watches Rodney scramble to make the plan work, but Atlantis is whispering in his mind.

The plan was good, but Atlantis is just so tired. Time is running out.

John has never been much for long goodbyes and he can't think of the words to convey how much Rodney has done for him. How much Rodney means to him. So he simply says, "So long, Rodney," and leaves before Rodney can react.

He has to do this, for Atlantis. Because he's the ranking military officer. Because he can't let anyone else fly to their deaths.

He has to do this, for Rodney.


	4. healing

Title: healing

Disclaimer: not my characters; just for fun.

Warnings: takes place during "Tao of Rodney"

Pairings: none

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 150

Point of view: third

* * *

They were marks of those painful seven years, when he had nothing but what he carried and nobody but himself. They were brandings, mementos he could never leave behind.

They were the scars of his mind given flesh, and he hated them-he did. Like he hated Wraith and Kell. Like he hated himself for not being fast enough to save Melena.

He couldn't change the past; he could only let the pain and despair and rage fade, shove it aside and ignore it.

And Rodney, who he once thought of as the weakest member of his team, took them away, as his goodbye.

"I healed them," he said, looking up and trying to smile. He was dying and his goodbye was to erase those brandings, the memories Ronon had never been able to escape.

He watched Rodney go and wished he could die in Rodney's place.


	5. to cross the great waters

**Title**: to cross the great waters

**Fandom**: _Pirates of the Caribbean_, "Stargate: Atlantis", _Star Trek_ reboot

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: spoilers for basic plots

**Pairings**: none stated

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 405

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Notes**: I thought, _Wouldn't it be cool if Jack Sparrow, John Sheppard, and James Kirk were all related? _And lo, this fic was born.

* * *

Jack Sparrow was born in the middle of one of the Atlantic's most vicious squalls. No one heard his or his mother's cries over the roar of the wind; together, they were swept overboard, his mother barely keeping ahold of him, or either of them afloat. But she clung to a piece of driftwood from the wreckage and placed her child above the surface, and together they were pulled from the ocean, the only survivors of their crossing to the colonies in America.

Whenever he mentioned the circumstances of his birth, no one believed him. He liked it that way.

o0o

John Sheppard was born on a cross-continental flight, his mother going against both his father and her doctor's advice. She was a stubborn woman and wanted to be with her family, and the baby wasn't due for another month.

She went into labor at thirty-five thousand feet, without a doctor. Her husband was fifteen states behind her, her own mother still ten ahead. Davey sobbed next to her, terrified out of his mind, as she screamed in agony, begging God to give her a safe, healthy baby.

When people learned the circumstances of his birth, very few were ever surprised.

o0o

James Tiberius Kirk was born in space, during an unprovoked attack that cost hundreds of lives which shouldn't have ended. His mother wept in pain and despair as his father died moments after his birth. Only a few newborn heartbeats after his first breath, his father breathed his last.

They, and the rest of the shuttles, were rescued a few days later. He had barely cried, nourished by his mother's milk and formula. Mostly, he slept or stared at his mother. She had not stopped weeping.

Without understanding, he spent most of his life trying to return to the black.

o0o

In the branches of his family tree, Jack Sparrow had royalty and peasants, farmboys and priests, emperors and warlords and slaves. He was not the first captain, and he was not the last.

John Sheppard was not the first of his kin to take to the sky, to seek freedom beyond the confines of the dirt. He had street cleaners and warriors in his bloodline, queens and milkmaids.

James Tiberius Kirk had long sought for something, and with the _Enterprise_ he found it. He wondered sometimes about the heroes and villains that peopled his family's past, if they had ever found home like he did.


	6. planet of the cute

**Title**: planet of the cute

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: none

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 66

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: John/Rodney, puppies

* * *

It's a planet full of puppies. Rodney blinks, wipes at his eyes, blinks again, then looks back.

Yes. There are still puppies everywhere, of every breed and color he can imagine.

Teyla is glancing around with bemusement, while Ronon is wary. John is—

"Colonel!" Rodney hisses. "What are you doing?"

John stands back up, a wriggling golden retriever in his hands. "Cuddling," he says.

Rodney facepalms.


	7. end of the road

**Title**: end of the road

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: AU

**Pairings**: pre-Ronon/John

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 410

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: John/Ronon, Sateda never fell

* * *

In Pegasus, there are a few pockets of resistance to the Wraith left. When the Earthlings get there, they fall right into a galaxy-wide war—replicators versus humans versus wraith, with the humans losing because their numbers are finite and so easy to kill.

Atlantis is at the bottom of the sea without the power to rise or send the explorers back to Earth, so Dr. McKay picks an address at random and sends everyone through.

On the other side, they meet blasters the likes of which they've never seen and hardened warriors with distrustful eyes.

Colonel Sumner steps in front of Dr. Weir and says, "Who's in charge here."

A man strides forward, taller and broader than all the rest. "I'm Dex," he says, gaze roving over the Earthlings, lingering on Sheppard. "Are you with us or them?" He flicks his eyes to the sky before focusing back on Sumner.

Sumner is clearly at a loss for words, so Dr. Weir moves around him. "We were hoping to find the Ancients," she tells Dex quietly. "If we've stumbled into the midst of something, we apologize."

Dex stares at her for a moment then turns back to his soldiers. "Any of you good in a fight?" he asks over his shoulder.

"Yes," Sumner says shortly. His hands tighten around his gun while the scientists try not to draw attention and the Earthling soldiers shift, preparing for—something.

Dex says, "Fighters go with them," and half a dozen of his warriors break off. "Rest of you, tell me what you're good at and we'll find you a place."

None of the Earthlings move and Dex bares his teeth. "Or we can kill you where you stand, just to be safe."

Sumner glares, fingers white around his gun. "I'm not leaving them without protection," he hisses.

Considering that, Dex's eyes go back to Sheppard. "Alright," he says. "Leave a couple."

Sumner bites his tongue, but turns and barks a few orders. All but five soldiers, including Sheppard, follow Dex's warriors. Sumner mutters to Sheppard, "Keep them safe" and Sheppard nods.

Dex waits a moment, studying the remaining Earthlings again. "Any of you medical?" he asks. Half a dozen raise their hands. "Go with Melena." She steps forward with a smile and gestures for them to follow; they do.

Sheppard nods for one of the marines to accompany them.

"Rest of you," Dex says, "step up and tell me your specialty."


	8. rider of the sky

**Title**: rider of the sky

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: takes place sometime season 2ish

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG  
**Wordcount**: 210

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: John + team, John has a special gift but the team doesn't know until one day that John has to use his gift to rescue the team. (gift - special powers, natural gift, etc - author's choice)

* * *

There's a reason he likes to fly so much. Almost all his dreams—the ones that aren't based on actual life—are about flying, either in a man-made machine, an ancient-made machine, or using his... gift. That might be the right word.

His dad said it came from his mom's family and they never spoke of it again. Dave didn't have it, or anything like it. Just John.

And Dad told him to never ever let anyone know. Ever.

For thirty-odd years, John hid it. Never used it. Ignored it.

But now, with Rodney and Teyla and Ronon hanging in the balance, he doesn't hesitate. He rips open the shield, lunges forward, and roars fire.

Those who run, survive. Those who try to fight, die.

Rodney's unconscious, Ronon's bleeding out, and Teyla says, "John, calm. We need you to carry us to the Gate." She bandages Ronon as best she can with a broken arm and then climbs onto his neck, where she won't hinder his wings. He gently grips Rodney and Ronon in his forefeet before taking to the sky.

He's larger than he remembers, easily the size of a puddlejumper. Probably bigger. But it feels so right, so simple.

There's a reason he loves to fly.


	9. phoenix

**Title**: phoenix

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: AUish

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG  
**Wordcount**: 390

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Notes**: there is a very epic and involved backstory to this. It will probably never see the light of day, though.

* * *

Atlantis remembers her builders, the curious and aloof and experimental people who made her and left. They did not give her life-she woke after they fled into the spirit, abandoning their bodies as they did her.

These humans are not equal to her makers. They use the builders' tools like children, uncomprehending. But they are kind, and one delights in her while another tries so very hard to understand everything, to learn her secrets.

She has seen them both before, these spirits called John and Rodney. Before she woke, in the last days before her builders fled. They were wanderers, something different from her builders, or the builders' children, or the allies, or the enemies. Something she had not seen before or seen since.

Phoenix, they called themselves, and a third was with them, a boy they did not name.

And at first, the builders were hopeful, but Phoenix called them young and foolish and said they had waited too long and nothing could be done.

And Phoenix left. Soon the builders followed. And Atlantis slept alone until she woke herself to wait.

Phoenix has returned in the guise of her builders' children and Atlantis knows they do not. They believe themselves to be John and Rodney, a soldier and a scientist, but they _know_ her and each other. She sings for them, in ways she did not even for her builders.

Marauders come, fakes and liars, and in their wake, the boy returns, the youngest of the Phoenix, and as he steps onto her, Atlantis surges.

All three collapse and the humans rush to their sides. They sleep an awaken remembering .

John, Rodney, and Daniel. A soldier, a scientist, and the man who woke the stargate of a long-untouched world. Wanderers from afar she knows from days when her builders still walked her halls.

Their spirits are bright now as they rise in the infirmary, as they ignore the other humans to stare at each other.

"Of course," says the one known as Daniel now.

Rodney huffs and John smiles. "A hundred thousand years," John muses. "A lot of changes since then."

"I can't believe I forgot," Rodney complains.

Atlantis hums in pleasure, her Phoenix home again. The builders formed and used her, but the Phoenix loves her and with them finally home, no enemy can stand for long.


End file.
